Snoop Dogg, John Kerry Meet at White House, Fist Bump Each Other

Rapper Snoop Dogg seemed to hit it off with Secretary of State John Kerry during a White House party honoring the 2013 Kennedy Center honorees, sharing a fist bump with the former presidential candidate and posting an Instagram video of the encounter.

In the video, the two appear to be talking about the work of jazz musician Herbie Hancock, who was being honored that night. Snoop Dogg performed a new rap verse for "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," which samples Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island."

It seemed like the ultimate transformation for Snoop Dogg, a rapper who had to defend himself on murder charges at one time.

"In the early 1990s, Calvin Broadus, better known by assorted aliases such as Snoop Dogg, Snoopzilla and Snoop Lion, was considered one of the most controversial/borderline dangerous rappers on the planet," said Time magazine's David Stout. "Two decades later, the well-known lover of marijuana, firearms and “gin and juice” has completed the transition from gangsta rapper to White House socialite."

He was given the nickname Snoop Dogg by his mother when he was child because she jokingly said he looked like the Peanuts character Snoopy growing up, according to his biography on IMDb.com.

Snoop Dogg served time on a drug conviction prior to his rapping career and was found not guilty of murder in a 1993 trial.

He is one of the most commercially successful rap artists of the genre. He helped launch the West Coast hip-hop era alongside like N.W.A., Tupac Shakur and Ice-T.

Rapper Snoop Dogg seemed to hit it off with Secretary of State John Kerry during a White House party honoring the 2013 Kennedy Center honorees, sharing a fist bump with the former presidential candidate and posting an Instagram video of the encounter.